Arabs and Persians, from my experience, tend to be more dogmatic in the aggregate than most other Moslems. It may have less to do with Islam and more to do with the cultures that Islam overlies. I'd like to recommend two books that, although a bit dated (both from the mid-80's), give a pretty accurate account of women's roles and life in two progressive Arab countries. Both are written by Arab women.
The first is a non-fiction cultural account, "Beyond the Veil", by Fatima Mernissi. It provides a fairly detailed description of the roles and status of women in Morocco. Although Mernissi has a bit too much of the "socialist ideologue" in her writing, and obviously has an agenda, from my personal observations of Moroccan society the book overall is pretty good.
The second is a fictional account of a young woman growing up in Algeria, Ali Ghalem's "A Wife for My Son" (out of print, but may be available in a good library). (Ali Ghalem is a pseudonym). It's a fairly sensitive and non-judgemental snapshot of life in the great Arab socialist experiment. The things that happen to the main character are, IIRC, drawn from the actual experiences of the author.
I highly recommend both books for anyone who is interested in this issue.
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